Top Principal Software Engineer Jobs in Denver & Boulder, CO

Design, develop, and test C++ software for RF processing, radar systems, simulations, and toolchains. Translate algorithm descriptions into software, integrate radar systems with experimental data and analytical tools, optimize performance, and participate in code reviews. Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to define requirements and deliver reliable, scalable solutions. The role is performed onsite five days per week and requires an active Secret clearance with eligibility for Top Secret/SCI.

Design, develop, test, and maintain embedded satellite command & control, mission planning, and data analysis software. Perform full software lifecycle work (requirements, architecture, code, integration, test, documentation), collaborate across teams, and support on-site development and deployment activities.

Develop and maintain embedded satellite command-and-control, mission planning, and data analysis software. Perform full software lifecycle tasks (requirements, architecture, design, code, test, integration, documentation). Build and support test infrastructure, CI/CD and containerized deployments. Work onsite regularly and collaborate across engineering and program teams. Requires active TS/SCI clearance and experience with modern cloud, embedded, and software engineering practices.

Lead the architecture and technical direction of large-scale Azure cloud infrastructure and machine learning platforms. Design distributed systems for model training, inference, data processing, and platform services; improve compute efficiency, reliability, security, scalability, and observability; guide Kubernetes and AI workloads in production; support MLOps practices; establish engineering standards; and mentor engineers across teams.

Lead design, development, and testing of complex software systems for space/defense applications. Architect solutions, write and review code, manage version control, troubleshoot issues, document processes, mentor and lead engineering teams, drive technical strategy and adoption of new technologies, and communicate with non-technical stakeholders while ensuring project performance and schedule.

Lead the architecture, design, and implementation of core MarkLogic database features using C++. Build scalable, fault-tolerant distributed systems; optimize performance; debug complex server-side issues; and mentor engineers. Collaborate with product, development, QA, and documentation teams to deliver secure, high-quality database capabilities involving search, security, language runtimes, JavaScript integration, scalability, and reliability.

Own cross-team, platform-level engineering initiatives end-to-end: architecture, migrations, observability, on-call, and customer outcomes. Drive AI-native tooling and agentic AI adoption, mentor senior engineers, and set technical standards across teams.

Lead the architecture and evolution of managed Kubernetes and cloud-native services. Provide cross-team technical oversight, standardize platform practices, integrate open-source technologies, improve scale, performance, security, and operational efficiency, and mentor engineering teams. The role requires expertise in Kubernetes-based platforms, container runtimes, cloud-native architectures, and Go, Python, or Bash.

Designs and develops hyperscale Azure Storage backend technologies, improving reliability, scalability, observability, and engineering productivity. Leads technical strategy and high-impact initiatives across teams, architects engineering systems and pipelines, advances test automation, investigates networking and deployment issues, and improves development workflows. Responsibilities include coding, requirements analysis, design documentation, estimation, dependency identification, and on-call response for service degradation and outages.

Lead design and implementation of Azure full‑stack, scalable skilling platform features. Drive CI/CD, reliability, automation, and AI/LLM-enabled capabilities. Mentor engineers, enforce engineering best practices, coordinate cross-team dependencies, and improve test automation and observability for enterprise-scale services.

Leads architecture for complex mission software and simulation capabilities, defining end-to-end mission data flows, interfaces, models, and software designs. Translates mission requirements into implementable architectures, evaluates reuse opportunities, leads technical trades, guides multidisciplinary implementation teams, and resolves integration issues. Supports lifecycle activities including integration, verification, validation, testing, technical reviews, and program sell-off. Requires strong technical communication and leadership across systems engineering, payload, software, modeling and simulation, and test organizations.

Provides technical leadership for mission software architectures, modeling and simulation capabilities, mission data flows, interfaces, and end-to-end processing. Translates mission needs and requirements into software functions and architectures, evaluates reuse opportunities, leads architectural trades, documents designs, guides implementation teams, and supports integration, verification, validation, testing, and technical program reviews. Collaborates across systems, payload, ground, software, simulation, and test teams.

Architect and develop foundational edge-computing runtime and integration platforms for connected-home devices. Build software models for device, spatial, and occupancy data; prototype and productionize new concepts; evaluate architectures; and provide technical leadership through design reviews, coding standards, mentoring, and cross-functional collaboration. The role spans edge computing, IoT, distributed systems, embedded environments, intelligent agents, networking, and secure systems within an exploratory R&D organization.

Lead the architecture and modernization of a complex enterprise SaaS platform while remaining hands-on with critical software design and development. Define technical direction, improve scalability, reliability, security, performance, and maintainability, and guide design and code reviews. Partner across engineering and product teams, resolve complex technical challenges, establish engineering standards, mentor engineers, and translate architectural strategy into practical delivery.

Lead the technical vision, roadmap, and development of Elasticsearch’s ES|QL analytical engine and query capabilities. Design data-intensive systems, algorithms, APIs, and compute infrastructure; research search and analytics technologies; collaborate across product and engineering teams; mentor senior engineers; and contribute hands-on modern Java development. The role requires autonomous technical leadership, expertise in database internals and analytics systems, and the ability to guide complex projects from conception through delivery.

Lead architecture and technical direction for an AI-first SaaS product (Growth Studio). Define scalable services, APIs, data flows, and AI-enabled workflows; guide integrations, run architecture/code reviews and POCs; mentor engineers; produce technical documentation; and partner with product, UX, QA, and ops to deliver reliable, secure, and maintainable platform capabilities for GovCon customers.

Leads the architecture and delivery of complex software-intensive systems across cloud platforms, distributed systems, AI-enabled products, mission software, and operational environments. Defines system boundaries, interfaces, integration strategies, and technical direction across teams; drives trade studies, risk mitigation, validation, operational readiness, and customer adoption. Partners with product and engineering leaders, influences without direct authority, improves technical standards, and mentors senior technical leaders while applying AI to accelerate systems engineering.

Set technical direction for Elastic Cloud Serverless control-plane initiatives, designing distributed systems that orchestrate projects across AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. Lead multi-quarter, cross-team delivery; write and review Go code; improve reliability, security, and cost efficiency; investigate incidents; participate in on-call; mentor engineers; and advise product and engineering leaders on technical trade-offs and roadmap decisions.

As a Principal Flight Software Engineer, you will lead the architecture and development of flight software for space missions, ensuring safety and reliability while collaborating on technical decisions and standards.

Lead the technical vision and architecture of simulation software for spacecraft, focusing on multi-physics modeling and real-time execution, while driving engineering standards and mentoring teams.

Owns technical direction and execution for major products and systems. Designs scalable backend, frontend, API, database, and infrastructure solutions; writes production code; drives architecture decisions; resolves complex engineering problems; improves testing, security, observability, and development practices; and mentors engineers across teams. The role requires leading major initiatives from design through production in a globally distributed environment.

Lead development of Elasticsearch vector similarity search capabilities, including designing algorithms and data structures, implementing features, fixing bugs, and improving code quality. Collaborate asynchronously with a globally distributed engineering team and open-source community. Serve as a subject-matter expert on vector search relevance and implementation while contributing modern Java code and guiding cross-functional initiatives autonomously.

Work with customers and cross-functional teams to design, build, and deliver cloud-based solutions. Lead design, identify dependencies, mentor engineers, act as DRI and on-call, and improve availability, reliability, observability, and performance. Contribute to open-source assets and collaborate with Microsoft product teams to produce extensible, maintainable code and scalable solution patterns.

Lead the architecture and development of reliable AI-powered email applications across backend, mobile, and desktop platforms. Design APIs and workflow systems supporting orchestration, state, tool use, retries, fallbacks, and failure handling. Lead a small senior engineering team, make architectural trade-offs, mentor engineers, and establish strong production practices including observability, monitoring, testing, scalability, security, and operational excellence. Partner with ML leadership to deliver robust, high-quality product experiences.

Design, implement, and operate cloud-scale telemetry platforms and data pipelines for Azure Monitor. Lead cross-team architecture, mentor engineers, improve AI-enabled development practices, ensure security/compliance, and resolve complex production incidents.